Thursday, July 30, 2015

July 30, 2015 (Axis of Logic) A
few days ago, a group of American soldiers caused a security alert at Vienna’s
Schwechat airport. The men were stopped while trying to travel with army
weapons to Ukraine without any necessary permits, the newspaper wrote. The
Austrian police had to intervene and remove the weapons. An investigation into
the case was launched. The nine US soldiers were on their way from
Washington to Ukraine, where they were to be deployed.

"However, since there
were problems with their connecting flight after a stopover in Schwechat, they
had to rebook their flight and, therefore, leave the transit area,"
Colonel Michael Bauer, Defense Ministry spokesman said.M16 assault
rifles and pistols were discovered in the luggage of the American soldiers at a
security checkpoint. The incident caused huge shock, because the weapons were
not declared and registered and, thus, carried illegally.

The soldiers had not obtained
the required transit approval by Austria. In special cases, the stay or transit
of foreign military forces may be officially allowed after completing the
application procedure, but the US soldiers did not send any required requests.The
attempt by the American embassy to obtain the approval after the incident was
rejected for legal reasons. Instead of going to Ukraine, the soldiers had to
fly back home to Washington and were allowed to take the weapons with them.

Sunday, July 26, 2015

July 24, 2015 (BBC News Europe)Russian defense ministry sources say a squadron of Tupolev Tu-22M3
long-range bombers will be based in Crimea - but experts question the strategic
value of such a move for Russia. Russia's Interfax news agency reported the
plan, quoting an unnamed ministry source, though it has not been officially
confirmed. Other Russian media also reported it. Russia has previously pledged
to beef up its military forces in Crimea, which has been internationally
isolated since Russia annexed it from Ukraine in March 2014.

On 9 May the bombers were a highlight of Moscow's Victory Day flypast

Western nations imposed sanctions on
Russia after the annexation and tightened them over Russian support for armed
separatists in eastern Ukraine. Russian commentators see the Tu-22M3 bomber
move as a response to US plans to deploy surface-to-air missile interceptors in
Romania. Work at Romania's Deveselu airbase began in October 2013. It is part
of a Nato missile shield plan to defend Europe from a possible "rogue
state" missile attack. The US missiles are a ground-based version of
Aegis, a system used by the US navy since 2004. The Russian bombers could be
used against large surface ships, including aircraft carriers.

The Soviet-era Tu-22M3 bomber entered service in 1989 but has been
modernised since then

However, military expert Viktor
Murakhovsky argues that sending them to Crimea will only make them an obvious
target in the event of an armed conflict, and they will do little to improve
Russia's combat capability there. Russia also opposes the positioning of US
missile interceptors in Poland. It threatened to put Iskander short-range
missiles in its Kaliningrad region in response. However, despite reports of
temporary deployments, Iskanders have not been moved there permanently.

Saturday, July 25, 2015

July 25,
2015 (EuromaidanPress.com) Moscow may be able to disown two of its soldiers who
fought in its war in Ukraine, and it may even be able to convince many Russians
and the gullible in the West that doing so is somehow appropriate. But as in
Soviet times, it won’t be able to hide one of the most serious costs of that
aggression: the increasing number of war invalids on Russian streets.

Almost 30
years ago and in response to the outrageous claims of Russian officials that “there
are no invalids in the USSR,” Valery Fefelov published a book with that title
in London that documented not only how many invalids there were but how badly
they were treated by the Soviet government even as they elicited sympathy from
the Russian people.

Given how
many wars declared and undeclared the Soviet Union was involved with, Fefelov
wrote, there were an enormous number of invalids who suffered physical and
mental traumas that did not end when the conflicts did. Instead, these victims
of the regime returned home where all too often they were victimized again.

A one-armed Russian veteran of the Kremlin's
invasion into Ukraine panhandling in a Moscow metro station. His sign says:
"Help please on a prosthetic." (Image: Erich Hartmann on YouTube)

Now, like
its Soviet antecedent, the Russian Federation of Vladimir Putin is again
engaged in an aggressive war, a conflict that not only has resulted in an
increasing number of dead but also in a rapidly growing number of wounded, many
of whom will be physical or mental invalids for decades to come.

That cost of
the war has not attracted much attention up to now, but Oleg
Panfilov, founder of the Moscow Center for Extreme Journalism who now teaches in
Tbilisi, has begun to fill this gap, one that the Kremlin won’t
acknowledge just as it won’t acknowledge the presence of its soldiers in
Ukraine.

Friday, July 24, 2015

July 22, 2015 (THE LOCAL) Both Russian and Swedish
media have been debating whether the Nordic nation is set to seal a
controversial deal to buy Ukranian soil. Russia analyst Elena Bazina shares her
take on what the fuss is about.

While
Ukraine is on fire, other countries are trying to benefit from it. Over the
past week, Russian media sites have been discussing rumours that Swedes are set
to buy a huge amount of Ukrainian black soil - a rich soil that contains a
number of chemicals that help plants grow. It's been claimed that around 50-100
million tonnes of very fertile Ukrainian chernozem (the technical term for the
soil) will be delivered to Sweden and used at a nature reserve in Dalarna.

The black soil in Poltava region

According to
rumours, the soil will be taken mainly from Poltava region which is of historic
importance when it comes to the relationship between the two countries. The
area is well-known for hosting the Battle of Poltava, when Russia's Peter the
Great defeated Swedish forces under Karl XII in 1709. So, the news that Swedes
could end up possessing Poltava’s soil wounds the feelings of some Russians,
who believe Sweden is still trying to get its revenge.

Read full article at http://www.thelocal.se/20150722/why-sweden-and-russia-are-fighting-over-soil

My brief comment:Poltava was under German occupation from September 18, 1941 until September 23, 1943. Within this term many hundred of railway cars full of Ukrainian black soil have been delivered to Germany. Dozen of them were deserted by Germans on Poltava local railway on the eve of liberation. As many old local inhabitants assert the soil was collected not far from Poltava including Poltava Battle field.

Friday, July 17, 2015

July 16, 2015 (ABCNEWS) Ukraine's
parliament on Thursday gave preliminary approval to a bill that would devolve
more powers to separatist-controlled areas in eastern Ukraine and sent it for
review at the country's highest court. The conflict between Russia-backed
rebels and Ukrainian government troops has killed more than 6,400 people since
fighting there began last April. An armistice signed in February calls for a
political resolution in the region including constitutional reform that will
give all Ukrainian regions — and the east specifically — more powers.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko gestures as he speaks to lawmakers
during a parliament session in Kiev, Ukraine, Thursday, July 16, 2015.
Ukraine’s parliament, on Thursday sent to the Constitutional Court draft
amendments to the country’s Constitution concerning decentralization. A
total of 288 lawmakers, 62 more than the minimum required voted in
favor of the decision. The Constitution is added by a provision that
"the peculiarities of local self-government in certain areas of the
Donetsk and Lugansk regions are defined by a separate law." (AP
Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Presenting
the bill on Thursday, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko insisted that the
changes he is proposing would not turn Ukraine into a federation. He said that
along with giving more powers to local authorities throughout the country, the
bill allows broader autonomy in the areas the government is currently not
controlling. "Ukraine will stay a unitary state," Poroshenko told the
parliament.

Poroshenko
stopped short of explaining the particulars of the self-governance in the east,
but the details are expected to be released when the bill goes to parliament. Lawmakers
on Thursday voted 228-58 for the bill, and it now goes to the country's
Constitution Court. Once approved, it will go back to the parliament to be
voted on again, and later to be signed into law by the president. Lawmakers
were debating the bill in the presence of U.S. Assistant Secretary of State
Victoria Nuland, who is in Kiev on a visit and was watching the vote from the
public gallery.

Wednesday, July 15, 2015

July 14, 2015 Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration Andrii
Taranov, Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin and Chairman of the Security Service of
Ukraine Vasyl Hrytsak held a meeting at the Presidential Administration with
the heads of diplomatic missions accredited in Ukraine, where they reported on
the actions of the authorities to ensure stability following the Mukacheve
incident. Andrii
Taranov noted that the growing tension in the Donbas was synchronized with the
destabilization in the west of Ukraine. According to him, thorough and
fundamental investigation of all circumstances of the incident and regarding
all persons involved will be carried out. Corresponding staff decisions will
also be taken. "No high-rank patronage or representative mandates will let
anyone get away from responsibility," he stressed.

Taranov
particularly noted: "Law enforcement bodies will use all means at their
disposal to combat black market, smuggling and corruption." "No
political force will have any armed branches. No armed units will walk the
streets of Ukrainian cities," the deputy head stated.Chairman
of the Security Service of Ukraine Vasyl Hrytsak dwelt on the course of events
in Mukacheve on July 11, law enforcement activities and the role of the Right
Sector representatives in the incident. "In recent days, more than 40
searches have been conducted with firearms and other evidence of criminal
activity having been seized. Four men involved in the incident have been
detained. Prosecutor General's Office is investigating three criminal cases on
the facts of the events," the SBU chairman stated.

"No one is allowed to walk with firearms
across peaceful cities of Ukraine, open fire and justify it by saying they are
at war with mafia. Criminals who have committed offenses have no right to hide
behind the Ukrainian patriots, who took part in the conflict in the Donbas and
the Revolution of Dignity," the SBU chairman stressed.

July 15, 2015 (Guardian News) Soldiers and
police have been locked in a standoff with a nationalist militia in western Ukraine
after a gun and grenade battle that left at least two dead. Tensions have been
rising between the government and the Right Sector militia that has helped it
fight pro-Russian separatists in the east of the country. A Right Sector
spokesman, Taras Kuzyak, told Ukrainian media on Sunday that seven infantry
fighting vehicles had blocked the entrance to Right Sector’s base near the town
of Skole in Lviv region, adding that law enforcement was similarly cutting off
access to other Right Sector bases in western Ukraine. The move came after a
gunfight broke out on Saturday, when about 20 Right Sector gunmen arrived at a
sports complex controlled by MP Mikhail Lano.

They had been trying to stop the
traffic of cigarettes and other contraband, a spokesman for the group said. Near
the city of Mukacheve, the site of a fierce gun battle involving Right Sector
fighters, private security guards and police on Saturday, Right Sector members
were camped in the forest and did not plan to put down their weapons, spokesman
Artem Skoropadsky said. It was previously reported that police had surrounded
some gunmen in a wooded area and were attempting to negotiate their surrender. Lano
said a Right Sector commander had met him to ask his help in arranging
sanatorium stays for men who had fought in eastern Ukraine, during which time
an unknown man was shot outside. According to local medical staff, nine people
were wounded, including three passersby, in addition to the fatalities.

About 200 people rallied in support of Right Sector outside the
presidential administration in Kiev, many of them in military uniforms. Kiev
has allowed nationalist groups including Right Sector to operate despite allegations
by groups such as Amnesty International that Right Sector has tortured civilian
prisoners. Despite an official ceasefire that started in February, the conflict
in eastern Ukraine continues to simmer. Two Ukrainian soldiers were killed and
five wounded in the past 24 hours, a spokesman for Kiev’s “anti-terrorist
operation” said on Sunday.

Monday, July 13, 2015

July 13, 2015 (UNIAN
News Agency) Newly appointed Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States Valeriy
Chaly says that Ukraine is being actively armed by Western partners, including
with lethal weapons, according to Zerkalo Nedeli weekly newspaper.

“We get
weapons, including lethal ones, and nobody could ban this, as Ukraine is a
sovereign state. Another thing is that it's not customary to name those
countries, but this is a dozen states from Europe alone. We are at various
levels of military and technical cooperation with them, and it is being
developed at the moment”, Chaly told Zerkalo Nedeli in an interview, www.zn.ua
wrote.

What is
more, he said, there is a broad support in the United States for providing more
weapons to Ukraine. According to him, Ukraine now receives communications and
night-vision systems, medical equipment, counter-battery radars, armored combat
vehicles, robotic systems, including for mine clearance, and Imagery
intelligence support from the United States. Ukrainian President Petro
Poroshenko appointed Chaly as Ukraine's Ambassador to the United States on July
10. Prior to his appointment, Chaly was deputy head of the Presidential
Administration.

Friday, July 10, 2015

July 9, 2015 (Carnegie Europe) The
future of Europe’s security is being played out in Greeceand Ukraine. The crises
engulfing these two countries are not only economic, stemming from the failures
over the years of Athens and Kiev to deal with the fundamental structural
weaknesses of their state institutions. The two crises are also about Europe’s
inability to recognize that if Greece quit the eurozone and if Europe backed
away from giving Ukraine maximum political and financial support, Europe’s
security would be at stake.

Because Europe has no real security
and defense policy and, by implication, no strategy toward Greece and Ukraine,
it has depended on NATO - meaning the United States - for its security. The
basis of that security is now being challenged because the Europeans have not
internalized the threats Greece and Ukraine pose to European security and to
the transatlantic relationship.

Sunday, July 5, 2015

July 05, 2015 (CENZOR.NET)As reported byCensor.NETcitingRadio Liberty, authors of the icons, a couple of
painters Sofia Atlantova and Oleksandr Klymenko, presented about 30 icons
painted in Byzantine style. According to Oleksandr Klymenko, all icons have
been painted on wooden ammunition boxes’ covers which were delivered from the
anti-terrorist area by Dnipropetrovsk volunteers and Dnipro-1 regiment
soldiers, as well as on pieces of camouflage fabric.

The painters called their creations
“art objects” and added that all wooden covers delivered from hot spots
like Pisky, Debaltseve, Ilovaisk will be returned to peaceful life with images
of the saints, Jesus, and Holy Mother. The icons are available for purchasing
at the exhibition. Collected money will be transferred by the painters to
military medics who save Ukrainian soldiers’ lives in the combat area. One icon
costs from 700 to several thousands dollars.

As told by Klymenko, the exhibition
has been presented in European cities, including Lublin, Berlin, Munich,
Leipzig, Prague, Hanover, and The Hague where proceeds from sales of icons
amounted toUSD 31,800.
Allmoney has been donatedtothe Mykola Pyrohov First volunteer
hospital in the Donbas region. Soon the exhibition will be shown in other
cities of Ukraine.

Friday, July 3, 2015

July
3, 2015 (NATIONALREVIEW) “We do not seek a cold, let alone a hot war with
Russia. We do not seek to make Russia an enemy. But make no mistake: We will
defend our allies, the rules-based international order, and the positive future
it affords us all.”

So said Secretary of Defense Ash
Carter on June 22. Secretary Carter is on a dual-focus mission in Europe: He
wants to deter Russian president Vladimir Putin from further military
adventures, and to reassure American allies that President Obama is committed
to NATO. Pursuing those ends, he outlined how the U.S. military will contribute
to NATO’s new “Very High Readiness Joint Task Force” (VJTF). While America’s
exact contribution to the VJTF isn’t yet clear, it will involve aviation-lift
capabilities (which EU nations sorely lack), intelligence-gathering platforms
(which EU nations sorely lack), navy and air-force assets (which EU nations
sorely lack), and special-operations forces (which most EU nations sorely lack).

Wednesday, July 1, 2015

Opishne is an ancient
Cossack town on the north of the Poltava region located 45km. north from
Poltava. Its name is associated with pottery all over Ukraine. The craft has
always blossomed there, thanks to the presence of fine clays in the area. That
is why since centuries ago Opishne was regarded as a “capital” of Ukrainian ceramics.
Potters throughout the entire Poltava region envy and try to follow all the
Opishnian techniques in ceramics. There were about 280 potters in the
town at that time.

There is a National Museum of Ukrainian Ceramics there,
founded in the beginning of the 1990's to save the national traditions and
regenerate the old craft. It has several branches: an art school, a center
dedicated to the study of the special methods of ceramics, a library, a
publishing house, and audiovisual archives. Since 1997, the yearly congress of
Ukrainian ceramists is held there. Wellknown potters (ceramists) compete
during July. Their works can be seen in the yard of the museum or near the art
school.